Germany - In order to achieve the goal of dedicating at least 2.2 % of the country's land area to wind energy by 2030, the

Description

In order to achieve the goal of making at least 2.2 % of the state's area available for wind energy by 2030 (wind energy areas), a "State-wide contribution to species protection" is required for the 2nd partial update of the regional spatial development plans for renewable energies. For this technical contribution, which can also be used as part of the preparation of the LEP V landscape program, it is first necessary to record wind energy-sensitive bat species in Rhineland-Palatinate. Based on the recorded data and other data, the Rhineland-Palatinate State Office for the Environment (LfU) identifies priority areas for bats. The aim of the "State-wide contribution to species protection" is also to identify low-conflict areas for wind energy planning, which are made available to the regional and municipal planning authorities. Approval level - wind energy areas Section 6 of the Wind Energy Area Requirements Act (WindBG) transposes Article 6 of the EU Emergency Ordinance into national law. The aim is to speed up the approval of wind turbines by dispensing with the species protection assessment and the environmental impact assessment. This means that mapping by the project developer with regard to access bans and a species protection report are not mandatory. Even if no species protection assessment is to be carried out in areas pursuant to Section 6 WindBG, the competent authority must order mitigation and protection measures based on existing data. The official database on bats in Rhineland-Palatinate is by no means sufficient for this, meaning that appropriate mapping is required. By recording wind energy-sensitive bats in Rhineland-Palatinate, the data pool can also be strengthened with regard to the approval level. Regional planning as an upstream planning level - wind energy areas A central component of accelerating the expansion of wind turbines at the upstream planning level are the so-called wind energy areas in accordance with § 2 WindBG. The procedural simplification pursuant to § 6 WindBG applies here, provided the area is not located in a Natura 2000 area, a nature conservation area or a national park and a strategic environmental assessment pursuant to § 8 ROG or § 2 para. 4 BauGB was carried out when the wind energy area was designated. In future, wind energy areas will become "acceleration areas" in accordance with the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), which reinforces the acceleration requirements of the EU Emergency Ordinance. As species protection assessments and mapping are not mandatory in wind energy areas with regard to access bans, species protection concerns must be taken into account at the upstream planning level by identifying areas with few conflicts on the basis of species data. At present, there is no suitable, sufficiently accurate and up-to-date data on bat species available in Rhineland-Palatinate. On the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to predict the occurrence of species protection prohibitions at the upstream planning level (regional planning) due to a certain variability and dynamics of bat occurrences over time and the different times of planning and approval. Therefore, the consideration of species conservation concerns at the upstream planning level can only be sensibly carried out using data bases that are more stable in terms of time and space. Consequently, the delineation of priority areas for wind energy-sensitive species is a good way of identifying areas of low conflict under species protection law. These are to be determined from a combination of current species data, which will be recorded on sample plots (SPF) as part of this tender, and existing habitat models or aggregated individual data to be created by the LfU. (The text has been cut off. You can find the entire text in the PDF file)

Opportunity closing date

17 January 2025

Value of contract

to be confirmed